I have been very reflective as 2017 ends and I look forward to 2018. So many crazy things have transpired in 2017 that I could never imagined happening, but they did. Some bad… others SPECTACULAR! I saw God repeatedly perform miracles in the lives of people physically, emotionally, and spiritually! No matter what happens, seeing someone go from DEATH to LIFE NEVER GETS OLD!

The constant is prayer. My friend Dan Reiland recently wrote, “There is no wrong way to pray. Perhaps the only mistake in the realm of prayer is not to pray at all.” WOW…that is simple, yet profound. In looking back over 40 years of serving Christ in the local church the one thing that I am constantly amazed by is the lack of confidence that Christ-followers have in prayer…and how to pray. I believe we adults make it a lot more complex than necessary and we need to replace that with the promise of life-changing power.

In Matthew 6:9-13 Jesus gave a famous lesson prayer…53 words long…SIMPLE…In this prayer Jesus reminds us that prayer is an invitation to experience intimate communication with God. It’s an invitation to develop your faith. It’s an invitation to change the world! Again, children get it; adults complicate it. Prayer is something anyone can do anytime.

With that in mind I am asking ALL of our NKBA churches to begin 2018 with a STRONG emphasis in prayer. I am asking every church to join together in a 40 Days of Prayer Emphasis starting January 24 going through March 4. I consistently find myself repeating II Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

We have never faced the level of spiritual warfare and evil than we are seeing today. John 4:35 tells us to “Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest.” Our churches have the greatest opportunity that we have had in a lifetime. There have never been more lost and far from God…addicted and enslaved to all kinds of things that our enemy has leveraged to drag as many lives down as possible. We have the opportunity to change the world and our communities and I believe it ONLY begins when the people of God are broken about the things that break the heart of God.

SO, I want to exhort you to PRAY BIG! Jesus prayed “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus died for the whole world and His Kingdom Agenda indicates that God “is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all come to repentance.” (II Peter 3:9)

On March 2-3 the Northern Kentucky Baptist Association will gather for a Spiritual Awakening Conference at 7:00 PM at Burlington Baptist Church. I am inviting all our churches to come together to worship and to align ourselves with the heart of God to go into this harvest and see God do a new work in our lives and in our communities. We need to ask God to stir a spiritual awakening in our country from the White House to each of our doorsteps.

PRAY BIG and PRAY SPECIFIC. “The more focused and specific your prayers are, the more confidence you’ll gain when God answers. (Reiland)” Pray for people BY NAME you know who are lost and far from God. Expect to see a great harvest!

Finally, PRAY NOW and PRAY WITHOUT CEASING! We will provide resources on our website and a new Facebook event page on our 40 Days of Prayer. But, please, I plead with you, join together in this effort and let’s see what God will do in our day and time! Merry Christmas to you all! I look forward to a great 2018!